I lived with my family on rented houses for a few years... Got kicked out of houses twice in 5 years because homeowners wanted to sell; this happened at great p

I lived with my family on rented houses for a few years... Got kicked out of houses twice in 5 years because homeowners wanted to sell; this happened at great personal cost to my family with broken relationships with neighbors, school uncertainty, furniture changes, etc. Nevermind landlords promised that they wanted to rent "long term" in all cases. Renting is fine in many scenarios, but homeownership can bring a lot of stability to life. Sure it's not for every single person out there, but if you plan to stay put for at least a few years and can afford it, I say go for it. I think that dollar-for-dollar cost comparisons with renting can only go so far as it's not easy to measure the value of the aforementioned stability (and neither is the lost flexibility of renting).